Chapter 15, Section 1
1. How has the role of religion changed in post-Soviet Russia?
Answer: The role of religion changed in post-Soviet Russia by the government decision of lowering the restrictions or discouragement of religious practices, and the discrimination on certain ethnic groups. The Soviet government had actively encouraged atheism, or to believe that there is no God or supreme being.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Only Russian Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism were allowed full liberty as traditional religions of Russia.
2. What are Russia’s major ethnic groups?
Answer: Russia's Major ethnic groups consist of The Slavs, Caucasian Peoples and the Turkic Peoples.
Creative Writing: Pretend you are a Russian teenager attending high school. Write a short essay designed to persuade your parents—who attended high school during the Soviet era—that post-Soviet education is of higher quality.
In the Soviet Era, the Soviet government had commended several restrictions on religion and education. It was discouraged strongly until the 1990's. Since the 1990's, Post-Soviet Russia's educational system has been in the stages of significant reforms and innovations. The Communist Party in the Soviet Union had full control of education because government control over that section had been nearly abolished.
Today in Russia, We have a higher quality of education because education is held in terms of pluralism or the belief that no single explanatory system or view of reality can account for all the phenomena of life, and free search for truth. There are no restrictions, whatsoever on education.
Now-a-days, besides private schools such as universities and colleges, you can find new schools. The types of schools you would not of had in the Soviet Era. These types of schools consist of business schools, religious institutions, national universities and international universtities.
Chapter 15, Section 2
1. Who were the ancestors of the ethnic Russians?
Answer: The ancestors of the ethnic Russians were the (Kievan Rus) or the Slavs.
2. What were the causes of the Soviet Union’s collapse?
Answer: The Soviet Union's collapse was caused by several things. Those include the weakening economy, great discrepancies between workers' wages and the priviledges their leaders enjoyed.
Creative Writing: Write a brief essay that describes the United States’ role in the breakup of the Soviet Union. Be sure to include information about what happened, when it happened, why it happened, how it happened, and who was involved. Outside research may be necessary.
The United State's were involved in the Fall of the Soviet Union because of our President, Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan was involved with persuading the Saudi Arabian oil companies to increase oil production. This persuasion led to a three-times drop in the prices of oil. Oil was the main source of Soviet export revenues.Following the USSR's previous large military buildup, President Reagan ordered an enormous peacetime defense buildup of the United States Military. The Soviets did not respond to this by building up their military because the military expenses, in combination with colectivized agriculture in the nation, and innefficient planned manufacturing, proved a heavy burden for the Soviet Economy.
In 1985, Reagan and Gorbachev held their first of four "summit" meetings, this one in Geneva, Switzerland. After discussing policy, facts, etc., Reagan invited Gorbachev to go with him to a small house near the beach.The second summit took place the following year, on October 11th, in Reykjavík, Iceland. The meeting was held to pursue discussions about scaling back their intermediate-range ballistic missile arsenals in Europe. The talks came close to achieving an overall breakthrough on nuclear arm controls, but ended in failure due to Reagan's proposed Strategic Defense Initiative and Gorbachev's proposed cancellation of it. The result was a dual approach of increased cooperation, combined with Soviet economic restructuring (perestroika) and democratization (glasnost), which eventually made it impossible for Gorbachev to reassert central control and influence over Warsaw Pact member states.
United States President Ronald Reagan delivered his famous speech at the Berlin Wall in June 1987, in which he called for Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to "Tear Down This Wall!" On June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev to go further with his reforms and democrization by tearing down the Berlin Wall.
For the first time in recent history, the force of liberalization was spreading from West to East.
